Conan Kudo

Ahhh, so USCC does not have a CSFB capable network?  So are you holding out that this is still a Sprint Moto device?

The USCC network does support CSFB. It added CSFB support and "visitor CSFB" (meaning that the USCC system can provision to fallback to a network it doesn't control) to the network after it got the iPhone. Of course, the overwhelming majority of USCC devices use SV-LTE, but with Verizon exiting the CDMA ecosystem (and eliminating all the profitability of SV-LTE with it, since China Telecom and KDDI don't use SVDO/SV-LTE either), the remaining CDMA operators will need to use CSFB to be able to get handsets that they can afford.

Sprint and Motorola have already confirmed that Sprint is not getting the 2nd Generation Moto X. US Cellular has confirmed that it will offer the 2nd Generation Moto X independently of everyone. As for the fact it supports GSM/WCDMA, my suspicion is that since AT&T doesn't allow LTE-only roaming, USCC will now begin offering devices with GSM/WCDMA so that roaming on AT&T band 17 networks will actually work properly. And of course, USCC would have the option of using T-Mobile as a roaming partner, too. Like AT&T, T-Mobile doesn't offer LTE-only roaming agreements. The agreements must include GSM and UMTS, too.

This is hardly unusual for CDMA operators. The U.S. was the only country where CDMA operators steadfastly refused to set up roaming agreements with GSM/UMTS operators. It was never a technical decision. It was purely a business decision to ensure lock-in to the technology and the carrier.

The major revelation, which will bring no solace to Sprint subs who had been expecting and are now pining for a Sprint tri band Note 3, though, is that the "R4" version headed to USCC manages to support both SVLTE and quad band LTE: band 4, 5, 12, 25 LTE 2100+1700/850/700/1900.

 

That's not fair, A.J.

You know as well as I do that the reason Sprint "tri-band" devices can't support it is because LTE TDD bands require a separate antenna output from LTE FDD. All "tri-band" devices have dual-mode LTE. They support all of them with one path, but because LTE TDD differs substantially in air interface design from LTE FDD (obviously), it has its own antenna block on devices. That means that the antenna block previously reserved for CDMA2000 has to be replaced with LTE TDD.

That's why SV-LTE cannot be enabled on Sprint "tri-band" devices. The R4 model can support it because LTE TDD isn't on the device. That extra antenna block can be used for CDMA2000 instead.

If it's anything like its counterparts (Spirit, Lucid 2), then it will also support VoLTE. That will be interesting...